


The Way back

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: Dance with the Devil [14]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 14:10:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8803873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: The Travelers won. Klaus is locked away in a prison world. Bonnie Bennett makes a final gamble, and Caroline Forbes wakes up in her teenage bedroom, to a home she hasn't seen in decades.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, everyone can thank willowaus and livingdeadblondequeen that this is even seeing the light of day. I think this was perhaps one of the very first things I tried writing. Cleaned it up a little, but there you go.

 

Caroline slowly opened her eyes and looked uncomprehendingly at the old familiarity that she'd left behind decades ago. Sitting up with a gasp, she jerked back into her headboard. Frantic, her gaze jumped from place to place, and she couldn't breathe.

Home. She was home. _Mystic Falls_.

Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she refused to blink them back, afraid she'd disappear. Her bedding strained under her hands, and she forced herself to relax; to gain some control of the emotions clamoring in her chest.

"Oh God, Bonnie. What did you do?"

Grabbing a pillow, she pressed her face into the old memory of the fabric, and she breathed in and out until her throat wasn't so clogged. Had it really been decades since she'd seen this house? Slept in this room? A sudden, forceful realization that her mom was alive left her winded. God, she needed to think.

Home. Diner food. Her Mom's perfume.

Lifting her face, looked around. What year was it? Obviously, she was a vampire. How far back had Bonnie sent her? Sliding out of the bed, she hunted for her phone. Where, where… the old, familiar case and dated technology had her swallowing heavily.

_Oh God._

Tyler wasn't a hybrid yet. Her dad hadn't tortured her. Klaus hadn't killed Mikael or his hybrids. Elena was human.

But she couldn't save Jenna.

That hurt. She didn't even know what she was going to do, she'd had no control over when she arrived and already she'd been unable to save one person. Sinking to the floor, she clutched her phone.

It hadn't started yet. Not the worst of it. There were years between now and that first, inexpiable strike. But she now was alone.

Here, she was still a baby vampire.

Bonnie. _Bonnie_ …

_Her friend had been crippled with pain, her body twisted by torture both physical and magical. But her eyes had been clear when Caroline blinked her back into focus._

_"I'm sending you back."_

_Caroline shifted slowly, chains clanking against the stone floor. "Back?"_

_Today was the third day she'd been starved. Her second day of torture. Caroline didn't have enough blood to heal anymore; she'd already lost control once. Only the magically strengthened chains had saved Bonnie's life. Caroline was losing the fight for her humanity and she knew it._

_She was so tired._

_"To the beginning."_

_"Impossible." Caroline nearly slurred. "You saw Klaus."_

_Klaus. Bloody, beaten, defiant. Chained by magic and steel, he'd stared down the witches as they'd used the blood of his daughter to bind him. Caroline had never hated someone as much as she'd hated Hayley in that moment. The werewolf had watched without blinking, a faint smile on her face. Hayley was the mole. The traitor in their ranks. The reason everyone Caroline loved was captured, dead or missing._

_Watching Klaus' face as his daughter was murdered had been terrifying. His impotent rage as Hope screamed; her frantic calls for Rebekah, the mother who had been missing for fifteen years. In that moment, Caroline had been certain he'd break free and slaughter all of them. Had seen the way his body had jerked against his bindings, the struggle the witches had restraining him._

_It was his connection to his daughter that bound him. It was his daughter's blood that would seal the prison world they'd created with the slaughter of her friends. His daughter - the loophole that was really a trap, their final weapon._

_Klaus had cared for his daughter, for all that Rebekah had raised her. And for all that his very human child had cared for him, it had been his brother, his sister who had craved the relationship with the baby; who'd campaigned for Hope and Hayley's lives when Klaus would have ended them both. But for all of Elijah's wishes, Klaus had very determinedly avoided a father-daughter bond. At the most, he was a distant, murderous uncle._

_In those last few moments before time and magic banished him, Klaus' gaze caught hers. The pit behind his eyes - a thousand years of bloody vengeance - looked at her. She was bruised and bloody, bound tightly by the witches with the same steel that held him._

_But not yet broken._

_She'd known, holding that gaze, that it was over. She also knew, down to the marrow in her bones, that one day he'd break free. She just wouldn't be there to see his vengeance. That regret wrecked her, as he disappeared. No more promises, fanciful wishes or possibilities. All that was before her was torture and death._

_"They did it wrong."_

_Caroline forced her eyes to focus, forced herself to look at her friend. Bonnie had a little smile on her face and she she was moving her hands in slow, careful patterns._

_"Bon?"_

_"You won't forget me, right? The real me. I won't be the same. If you do it right." Bonnie's hands shook, but but her gaze was steady. Determined._

_"No." Caroline said quietly. "Don't. It's done."_

_Elijah and Rebekah were gone. Hayley's doing. Stefan was killed in an ambush years ago. Elena had walked away. No one knew where she was._

_There was nothing left to fight for._

_"Not yet." Bonnie whispered. "Not yet. You have to stop this from happening. You have to kill them. All of them. Stop Hayley. The witches."_

_"Bonnie. It's over. Klaus is gone. Everyone is dead. The travelers and witches won."_

_Bonnie lifted her hands, eyes going dark. "Before the other side, before bloodlines and spirits, witches had power. In blood and life and death. That power is everywhere, here. They forgot that."_

_Her life. Bonnie was going to use her life and what power was in the old blood. She'd die._

_"Don't do this." Caroline tried one last time. "Bonnie, I don't want to go back. I don't want to be alone."_

_A place where she and Klaus were never allies; a time where she'd scorned what he offered, refused him. His loss was a bloody wound that would not heal._

_Bonnie looked up, eyes fierce. Half-starved, the look brought out the sharp lines of her cheekbones and the fierceness of her eyes. Caroline thought for a moment that this was what her ancestors must have looked like, fighting vampires and werewolves._

_"You won't be."_

_Then it just hurt._

Hurt inside and out as everything went dark and horrible. But worse was the knowledge that her best friend had sacrificed herself again. In a desperate, misplaced hope to try again. To get it right.

But there was no getting it right. There was only different. Didn't Bonnie know that Caroline should've died in that dungeon?

But instead she was sitting on the floor of her bedroom, decades in the past. Alone. Haunted by memories - so many horrors. She wasn't the same Caroline as before, either. She'd lived through war, torture beyond nightmares, and lost everything.

Pressing her face into her hands, she cried.

* * *

Her Mom didn't notice anything at dinner. Distracted by work, she'd hardly done more than eat what Caroline put in front of her and before heading off to shower. Liz didn't notice the way Caroline could hardly keep her eyes off her. She'd been surprised by the hug, but Caroline had brushed it off.

That was okay. It was going to be okay. If she had to take the town apart piece by piece to avoid her mom's fate this time, she would.

Liz Forbes would go out on a tropical island, old and grey and fragile.

* * *

Being tortured by your dad still sucked the second time around.

* * *

Caroline's first rule of time travel: change everything. Yeah, she'd read books that said that was a bad idea (seriously, Harry Potter counted). But she couldn't do all of it again. Not when her heart was so ruined it felt broken most days. After hours of writing out timelines and trying to remember all those minute details…

The previous timeline sucked.

She'd rather burn the world herself than face that future a second time. It was possible that this new future would be worse - she had no idea what the consequences of her actions would be - but she was done.

Case in point: Tyler.

She'd sat cross legged on her bed, papers and notes scattered around her, detailing the lives of her friends, and Caroline had looked at all the things she'd let go. Tyler… she'd ruined him. She could admit that in the silence of the home she'd thought gone forever; she'd sacrificed him on the altar of Klaus and she didn't regret that. The boy who lived now - the angry, rebellious boy - should get a chance to live a life that wasn't a constant state of revenge; in a personal war he'd never win.

She'd picked her side years ago. Had sealed it with sweat soaked sheets, with blood and flesh beneath her teeth, with pain and pleasure, with Klaus. Caroline had chosen her own personal devil, the scourge of the supernatural and he'd worked every day so she didn't regret it.

But she couldn't think of that.

So instead, she focused on survival.

She'd promised.

The first major move would be easy. Kill Hayley. Fuck the witches and their balance, those ridiculous loopholes. Hope wouldn't happen. Remembering the look in her eyes, broken and tortured, Hope's human years stark on her face; Caroline thought she would understand.

Not that it mattered.

There would be no werewolf games this time. As soon as Hayley showed her face, Caroline was ripping out her heart. Then she'd burn Hayley's body to ash, destroying any and all anchors. She'd like to take her time, make her suffer, but sometimes a clean cut was best.

Which was why she was here. The show must go on, even haunted by the ghosts of future pasts. Mystic Falls High School was the same, boring hell of her memories.

Sighing heavily, Caroline jumped at how close Bonnie was standing. She'd spent the first week after her 'return' watching to see if anyone else made it back. If they had, they were better actors than her.

The Bonnie in standing in Mystic Falls High wasn't her Bonnie. Her face was too young, cheeks still rounded by a hint of baby fat. This Bonnie had never practiced expression, faced down Silas or stood in the middle of a war ravaged New Orleans, watching her enemies burn. She'd never died.

Part of Caroline was thankful.

The rest her was just bitter.

This wasn't her Bonnie. She hoped someday she could look past who Bonnie had been to who she was now. She'd like to be friends again.

"Hey. You okay?" Bonnie asked, books cradled in front of her body warily. She looked a little uneasy, guilt flickering behind her eyes. Caroline wondered what kind of intervention this was and who'd sent her.

Caroline shifted her own books, tried to smile. "Maybe I should be asking you that."

Bonnie shrugged, looking away for a moment. The warning bell for their next class period was loud, but Caroline had finally stopped flinching away from it. She hadn't missed high school.

"You sure?" Bonnie questioned. She glanced back over, lip caught between her teeth. "You've been different."

"Yeah, well, almost being sacrificed by a crazy hybrid has a way to change a person. Oh, and parental torture. The real kind." Caroline frowned. "If a girl can't reevaluate after that, when can she?"

Both of Bonnie's eyebrows shot up and she visibly hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. I guess so. Is that why you missed Senior Prank Night?"

Caroline swallowed. Last night she'd sat in her room, face pressed between her knees and counted each minute. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't. Not when she missed him so badly, when her palms itched for his skin. Not when she laid awake at night, alone with a bone deep chill.

But today there was no Rebekah. Tyler wasn't a hybrid. Klaus was MIA. She didn't know what that meant. Hugging her books tight to her chest, she took a slow breath.

Confessed.

"No. Yes. I… I broke it off with Tyler." Caroline chewed on her lip. "Although, honestly, I'm not sure we were together, together."

Bonnie blinked. "What? But you… I thought you guys were serious."

It'd been that way, hadn't it? She'd fought for Tyler, defied the most powerful creature on the planet for him. Staring at the familiar, twisting hallways of a life that had become memory, Caroline swallowed.

"You know what? Let's skip. I want fries and a shake. Interested?"

Bonnie hesitated. Looked around. "Care…"

"I'm emotionally distraught," Caroline pointed out, smiling hesitantly. Her Bonnie wouldn't have wanted to skip either. "Please."

Making a face, Bonnie finally nodded. "Fine. But you're totally buying."

The grill was quiet.

Sliding into a booth, she happily dunked a fry into her shake and rolled her eyes at Bonnie's face. "Not a word from the peanut gallery."

Bonnie fiddled with her straw. She looked nervous, but when no one said anything other than to drop off their orders, she relaxed.

"Bon?"

"I… we've never done this before."

Caroline pointed a fry at her. "Which totally sucks. We should try it again, later."

Bonnie shook her head and looked at her. "Are you okay? This past week was hard, and honestly it's sucked for everyone, but…"

Caroline shrugged and ate another fry. It wasn't like she could tell Bonnie the truth. Marathoning the Terminator Series had only driven home the point that no one took anything anyone said after 'I'm from the future' seriously, until shit blew up.

Plus, the whole Klaus thing.

"Care…"

"I will be." Caroline said finally, firmly. "I mean, have you thought about everything that's sort of just gone crazy this last year? Pretty sure I deserve an occasional freak out."

"Well, yes." Bonnie said with a shrug. "But that's life, right?"

Caroline pointed a fry at her. "Bonnie, I love you, okay? But on what planet does werewolves, vampires, and witches mixing with rituals and curses sound normal?"

"This one?" Bonnie replied, brows lowering. "Caroline, I don't get it. I thought you liked being a vampire?"

She huffed. "Seriously?"

"I don't understand where this is coming from." Bonnie said warily. "What are you trying to say?"

How do you ask your best friend not to die for you? How do you condense decades of fighting, of smashing your way through life together into a few sentences? How do you start? How do you tell her the Salvatores are idiots, vampire Elena is a selfish bitch and that you'd do anything - kill everyone - to keep her safe?

"Nothing," Caroline said quietly. "It doesn't matter."

"Is this about your break up with Tyler?" Bonnie asked, reaching for her hand. "Because he's a werewolf? He wouldn't hurt you."

She snorted. Tyler wouldn't hurt her, because he couldn't. Caroline-the-monster knew how to fight, the fastest way to the heart through the ribs, the force it took to snap a femur. Caroline learned a long time ago not to play fair.

But those secrets lived under her skin.

"He won't defend me, either. Oh, don't give me that look. I don't need a knight, okay? I can take care of myself. But is it so bad to… want to actually be a priority?"

"What happened?"

"You remember when Jules tortured me?" Caroline asked softly, fiddling with a fry and watching Bonnie from under her lashes.

"Yeah." Bonnie said softly.

"Did I tell you that Tyler watched?" She asked. "He left me in that cage. Tyler said nothing as he watched them tear me open."

"But Tyler's changed." Bonnie said. "He wouldn't do that now."

"Yeah, maybe. But do I just hope that's the case, or do I just… my dad used to braid my hair."

"Wait, what?"

"Dad used to braid my hair." Caroline smiled wistfully. "Easier than combing out tangles. He'd take this bright pink hair brush and carefully braid my hair every night."

Bonnie's hand tightened on hers. "I didn't know that."

Her gaze caught Bonnie's, held it. "And a few days ago, he tried to torture my vampirism out from under my skin, like it was a choice; that I could just turn it off. That it was better if would just walk into the sun and burn."

Caroline swallowed and looked at her hands. "So if I can't trust that someone who loved me enough to braid and re-braid my hair to my exacting standards, my dad who used to chase the monsters out from under my bed, and he tortured me, how can I trust Tyler? All I needed him to do was to ask them to stop."

"I don't know." Bonnie said finally. "But you've got the time to figure it out."

"Yeah. Anyway, I guess I'm not over it, as much as I thought. I think for now, we just both need some space." Caroline took a long drink through her straw. Licking her lips, she shrugged. "Tyler deserves to figure his shit out too."

"That's good to know, sweetheart, since Mr. Lockwood will be indisposed for quite some time."

Caroline felt every muscle in her body lock up in shock. She wasn't ready for this. It was why she'd chickened out last night. She didn't have a plan. Slowly, she turned to find Klaus watching her, and behind him Rebekah looking bored.

She didn't remember this. When had this conversation happened? He'd never approached her, not until after the bite. He wasn't following his previous schedule at all.

"What do you want?" Bonnie demanded. She was pale, but trying to hide her fear. "What did you do to Tyler?"

Klaus glanced over at Bonnie and smiled. Strolling forward, he stole a fry from Caroline's plate, expression thoughtful as he took them in. "You both look like fairly intelligent women."

What?

"I have a proposition for you."

Was he… recruiting them? Disbelief kept her mute. He was inches away from her - alive, healthy and newly Hybrid. God, he even smelled the same. She curled her hands into fists to avoid reaching for him.

It didn't matter that this man wasn't hers. It didn't matter that he'd kill her just as easily as anyone else. Everything inside her screamed to reach out and take. It was like the punch of a hand through the ribs, grasping fingers locking around your heart. Everything inside her stilled, pulled taut by a bone deep hurt.

"No." Bonnie said firmly. "Whatever it is, we're not interested. Where's Tyler?"

Turning, his blue eyes caught her. Tugged at her. "And you sweetheart? Not going to hear me out?"

She didn't know what he wanted. This Klaus might wish to burn the world to ash. As hard as her instincts rode her to reach out, to demand he trust her, she lifted her chin in challenge. It was probably a stupid idea, challenging him so early in their acquaintance. But death at this point meant what, exactly? Boredom, maybe.

Those playful eyes of his were not going to draw her in. Like she didn't know this game. "Tyler and I might not be dating, but Bonnie is right. None of us will let you hurt him."

Klaus' eyes narrowed, something unreadable crossing his face. "Worried about his teeth, sweetheart?"

Caroline ate her fry, "None of your business."

Rebekah's mouth curved, but she didn't say anything. God, she'd missed that bitch's face. But that narrow-eyed intensity rattled her. What was going on here?

"How so?" Klaus smiled, a dimpled thing that spoke of mischief and fun; all of it lies. Mostly. His idea of fun would shock everyone except, possibly, Stefan.

"I don't generally discuss my personal life with people who've tried to kill me." Caroline replied, frowning at him.

"Ah, but if I heard correctly you do date those who've let you be tortured." Klaus' gaze challenged her. Had he always shown her this much emotion, this early? Or was he similar enough to the man she'd come to know that she could read him?

"He apologized."

God, his dimples. They cut deep against his cheeks and her breath caught in her throat. "Ah, well then. Shall I apologize?"

Wait, was he flirting with her?

"No," Caroline bit out. "He meant it."

His lips curled and Klaus leaned close, invading her space. "I'm sure you've been told, love. I'm going to build an army. Your little doppelgänger friend is the key to that. Give her a message for me. She can give me the blood I want or I can take it. That'll be messy. People will die."

Klaus didn't make deals. Tilting her head, she tried to read him. What was this? She hadn't made nearly enough changes. This made no sense.

"You've already killed people," Bonnie snapped, interrupting her frantic thoughts.

Rebekah laughed. "The town still stands. We haven't ground it to rust beneath our heels. Take our deal."

"Ah," Klaus murmured. "Baby sisters. Quite dramatic. Forgive her. She's still reeling from suddenly becoming an orphan."

What?

_But_ …

Reaching out, Klaus caught one of her curls, twisted it around his finger. "I'd hate to break something as beautiful as you, Caroline Forbes. Give Elena Gilbert my message."

She jerked her head back, ignoring the sting of her hair being pulled. He let her go with a smile. "Go to hell."

Still smiling, Klaus filched the rest of her fries and walked out. Rebekah watched them, eyes dark with promise before she followed. Caroline stared at them, reeling. The Originals were playing nice? How much of an alternate universe was this?

Bonnie took a shaky breath. "What was that?"

Caroline swallowed. "I don't know. But we'd better talk to Elena about this."

Personally, her axis had tilted. She wondered what the others would make of this newest insanity. The sooner they figured out this nonsense the better.

* * *

Elena refused.

So had the Salvatores. One of these days, she was going to snap and kill Damon. She didn't have the patience for him, for his taunts, those smug jabs. She wondered what he'd think if he knew she'd pulled out his insides once before, as a warning.

So instead of trying to broker a deal, Caroline sat on her bed and listened to her mother breathe. She didn't sleep much anymore. Nightmares had become a rather constant companion of hers. Sometimes she could almost taste the prison in the back of her throat. It was so, so hard to not just leave and start hunting.

She'd gotten good at suppressing those instincts, but holding back the aggression she'd developed to survive was hard. Mostly, it made her quieter. Less bossy. If she pushed too hard now, it'd end with snapped necks and not tears.

Mostly, she missed her friends. It was like living with their shadows. The potential was there, but the people she loved and fought for were not. God, she felt lost.

Stefan was the same. Damon was still an ass and douche-nozzle. She was pretty sure Elena was always that… well, whatever. It probably wasn't fair to judge her one time friend on a lack of maturity. Caroline had decades on her. She was trying really hard not to remember the day Elena threw in the towel and left.

But the Originals?

Klaus and Rebekah were here, but they weren't infighting. Why? And God, his behavior with her? The open flirting? Honestly, that might've just been one of his schemes. It was easy enough to overhear Damon's opinion on her character. On the outside, she looked like an excellent Trojan horse. Klaus had clearly been eavesdropping - once a stalker, always a stalker - and he could be charming. But it wasn't quite the right brand of charm…

Caroline pressed her face into her palms. She needed to find a way to stop reading into the slightest of differences around her. Just because Klaus called her sweetheart and made eyes at her, well, that didn't necessarily mean anything.

_'I don't want to be alone.'_

_'You won't be.'_

What did you mean, Bonnie? What was she missing? The timeline that Bonnie sent her back into could have been completely different than the one she knew, she just hadn't found those differences yet. Seventeen-year old Caroline Forbes had lived a very sheltered life, even after The Originals had barged in.

So maybe that meant other things had changed, probably before she was born. Maybe he hadn't met Stefan in Chicago, maybe they hadn't ever gone to Chicago. She hadn't managed to bring that up yet.

She supposed it didn't matter. In the end, she had a list of people to kill. Maybe Klaus would help her, maybe he wouldn't. What she needed to do was figure out what was going to keep her mom alive, give Bonnie the best chance of survival and just do it.

If only her shields against Klaus weren't paper thin.

Caroline sighed heavily. There were just so many loose ends she couldn't control. Klaus had said Rebekah was an orphan. So he'd killed both Mikael and Esther? How? When? With no threat, and with him currently playing nice, that meant no hybrid bite. No ball. No conversations about genuine beauty and offers to see the world. No interest.

So why was he flirting? Why approach her at all? Why was she doing this to herself?

The sudden, sharp sound of something hitting her window brought her head around. Freezing, she listened intently for what was outside, and a moment later something else rattled the glass. Sliding out of bed, she yanked open her curtain and cursed at the sight of Klaus standing in her yard.

"What are you doing?" Standing like that, in the shadows of her yard and the moon, her mouth ran dry. Every single part of her lit up, need for him a burn in her gut.

Klaus' smile was lazy. "We haven't had a chance to discuss my offer."

"I don't talk to sociopaths, much less at night, when I'm not wearing pants." Caroline growled and then froze. Why had that come out of her mouth?

She was not flirting back.

"Well, I'd certainly hate for you to be uncomfortable." Klaus drawled, lips curving just the slightest. Was that interest? No. No she wouldn't do this to herself.

"Then leave."

"Caroline, I'd like to have a word. It'd be a shame to wake your mother. Why don't you come downstairs?"

And now they were back to the veiled threats of the evening. She bared her teeth at him in a fake smile. "Seriously? Your freaky hybrid hearing can probably understand me just fine even if I shut this window and whisper."

"Be that as it may, I'd prefer to be on a more even footing. Since you won't invite me in," he ignored her eye-roll and continued. "Then all I ask is that you come downstairs while I stand on your porch."

"Seriously?"

"I can light the house on fire," He offered with that smile. "But I thought you'd prefer to keep your home intact."

She shut her window.

"And sweetheart, don't put pants on for my account."

Spitting out a few quiet curses, she bit down hard on her lower lip. She could not flirt with this man. He was not amusing. Grabbing the first set of sweats she could find, Caroline slipped downstairs silently and cracked the door.

Klaus was waiting for her, hands in his pockets. His pose was nonchalant, but she'd seen him reach out and casually rip out hearts from a similar pose too many times to be fooled.

"Here I thought you were a bit braver, Caroline." Klaus said lightly, eyes dragging over what little he could see of her.

"You also said I was smart. I'm here. Talk." Caroline said firmly.

The smile left his eyes, iron and something dangerous filling his gaze. "Be careful, Caroline. Your tongue will grow back."

"Don't threaten me." Caroline said firmly. "And don't threaten my mom."

He looked more amused than angry at her response. "You'll find I can do whatever I want. Did you speak to the doppelgänger?"

"Elena said no. Also, I'm not your messenger."

"Pity." Klaus shrugged. "If your little group prefers to do this the hard way, it's certainly more entertaining."

"They've no reason to trust you," Caroline retorted, hand tightening into fist behind her back.

"And you?" Klaus asked, slow smile curving his lips. She cursed her slip of tongue. "What do you think?"

"Most people don't go around building hybrid armies from hell. Is that what you want to do with Tyler?" Caroline deflected, eyes narrowing.

"I'd forget about Mr. Lockwood, Caroline." Klaus said, eyes flat and cold.

"No. He's my friend."

"I wonder," he said, stepping closer to her. Her fingers tightened on the door at the sudden, searing expression behind his eyes, the calculating way he watched her. "What it would take to earn your loyalty?"

Caroline's brows bunched, her confusion real. Klaus - her Klaus - had never done this, been so open. God, it had taken her dying in front of him for him to even admit his feelings were real. He had minions, servants and family. He didn't want loyalty when he could have fear.

"Are you being serious right now?"

Klaus arched a brow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Caroline scoffed. "Oh yeah? You mean other than the threat of burning my house down, ripping out my tongue, and the promise to turn Elena into a blood bag? But I'm supposed to be dumb enough to believe you want to play nice? Gain my loyalty? Do I look stupid?"

He stepped closer, blue eyes hardening. "My plans are not mutually exclusive to the doppelgänger. Be very sure before you reject me, love. You've a very human mother."

"Go to hell."

Another faint, twisting smile. "I take care of what's mine; those who are loyalty to me. Think about it."

Then he was gone.

Caroline shut the door before sinking to her knees. He was up to something. Her eyes burned and she banged her head against the door. Now all she needed was a drawing to show up. Then she'd really be in hell.

* * *

It was in her locker on Monday.

The drawing was of her, looking rumpled and irritated, hair falling in messy curls around her face. She was clad in her long, oversized sleep shirt and noticeably without pants.

The caption?

_'Thank you for your honesty. Let's see what I can do to change your opinion.'_

_Ass_.

She kept it.

* * *

"My brother doesn't make deals."

Caroline shoved her pom poms into her gym bag and faced the Original who'd interrupted her post-workout calm. Rebekah was dressed casually, she looked amazingly stylish, comfortable in her skin in a way that suggested the last eighty years hadn't been in a box.

"Goody for him," Caroline started unwinding her sweaty braids, uncaring if she looked ridiculous. "Why should I care?"

"Because you're not going to get a better offer." Rebekah said with a shrug. "Eventually, the Salvatores will do something stupid and then the deal will be off the table completely."

"Oh yes. The offer where he builds his hybrid army. Assuming we actually believed him when he promised not to hurt Elena, how does that even make sense? We barter for her life with the lives of how many?" Caroline crossed her arms.

"And you can do what, to stop it?" Rebekah shook her head, lips curled upwards into a smirk. "You can't kill us. We've taken care of that little issue. Do you think you can stop us? You're a child - an infant vampire whose value as a tactical piece is so infinitesimal that compulsion is a waste. I know Stefan, little Caroline Forbes. He thinks he's in love. He'll sacrifice everything around him in some grand, romantic gesture before he offers himself as the next sacrifice. Then Damon will sweep in to claim whatever pieces are left. It's actually pathetic if you think about it."

Well, that answered the question about Chicago. At least part of it. The problem was she knew Rebekah was right. She'd spent the last week sleepless and stressed, churning through every possibility. This Klaus was unleashed, a little more balanced, a lot more ruthless than she remembered. She knew he'd rip the town apart, sink his teeth and claws into everything and laugh as Mystic Falls bled.

The problem was she wouldn't mind. There was a war building, even if the chess pieces were still scattered. A hybrid army to fling at the gaping maw of the travelers, at the blood-thirst of Silas?

_Yes._

Except she was supposed to be Caroline Forbes of Mystic Falls. She'd never sunk teeth and fist into the enemy, hadn't coordinated skirmishes, dug into the gut and history of her opponents. She'd never pressed the most powerful being into her bed, stripped him with words and hands, and broken them both open.

The Caroline she was supposed to be didn't look at Rebekah and see friend. She looked at her and saw death. The enemy.

"Look, Rebekah, right? I don't know where you think you know Stefan from. I honestly don't care," Caroline crossed her arms. "I do care about my friends. What's to keep you from taking Elena, killing all of us, and just walking away?"

Rebekah stepped forward, smile fading to show the truth she wore under her skin. Damon thought of Rebekah as weak. Caroline knew better. This was Klaus' sister, the Original who'd stood at his side for centuries. Rebekah had painted the world red, swallowed it in bites that left fire and death in her wake, had danced with her brother over corpses too many to count.

Rebekah was dangerous.

"What's to stop us now? It isn't a matter of us getting her blood." She reached out and tugged on a damp curl. Caroline tensed, eyes narrowing. "We'll get it. The only question you have to ask yourself is this: do you care more about these faceless, nameless werewolves, these walking blood-bags, more than you care for your Mom. Your friends? Because I will leave them in bloody pieces at the doppelgängers feet."

Caroline curled her hands into fists. "Why are you telling me this?"

Threatening her.

Rebekah tugged lightly, before releasing her hair and stepping away. "Why not?"

"No." Caroline said softly, nerves jumpy from the predatory look in Rebekah's gaze. "You don't do anything without a reason."

"Talk to my brother."

For the first time since she woke in her bed, hope nearly strangled her. She nearly called out after Rebekah, asked the questions burning on her tongue. Instead, she picked up her bag and headed home.

* * *

Caroline stared at the newspaper in front of her, hands squeezing so hard the wood table cracked. Professor Atticus Shane from Whitmore University had been found dead that morning. The police were withholding information, but it appeared to be a suicide.

Everything inside her shook.

_Impossible._ It was impossible. Her fingers shook, as she grasped the newspaper. What if it wasn't? What would she risk to be right?

Hands holding the paper, she flashed to the Mikaelson Mansion. Caroline pounded on the door, and she waited in tense silence as it opened. Rebekah looked at her and smirked.

"Rethink our offer?"

"Where's your brother?"

"Which one?" Rebekah asked with a laugh. "I have three."

"Let her in Rebekah," Klaus called from inside the house. "Let's see what the cheerleader wants."

"You can ask her. I have plans."

She forced herself to wait for Rebekah to show her to where Klaus was lounging on sofa, an amused smile on his face. Let herself stare at him with greedy eyes until he looked up from his sketchbook, brows arching.

"I don't hear you agreeing to my terms, little vampire."

"Did you kill him?" The words were blurted out before she could stop herself, waving the paper in his direction.

"I've killed lots of people, love. I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

"Professor Shane."

Professor Shane. The first chess piece in the game towards Silas, the first test for those who would later trap Klaus. Her back hit the wall behind her hard enough to rattle bone, but she didn't care. Trembling, she stared up at that narrowed, hybrid gold gaze - the raw intensity of his expression. "And what is your interest in a college professor, Caroline?"

Slowly, carefully she reached up and touched his jaw. Her voice shook when she found it. "Klaus?"

Klaus leaned forward until their noses were nearly touching. She stared at him with wide eyes. His nails dug into her skin and the yellow around his pupil was incandescent.

"Be very, very careful sweetheart." He warned, voice feather soft.

"Please be real," She whispered back. " _Please_."

His gaze narrowed and his face blurred. She blinked rapidly, fighting the tears, but they spilled over anyway. He released her arms and cupped her jaw, thumbs wiping her cheeks as he studied her face.

"Caroline?"

She swallowed, hard. Her voice wobbled only a little when she spoke. "You're supposed to be in a prison world."

Klaus went utterly still.

She didn't know who lunged for who, but her hands were buried in his hair and his mouth was wild and demanding against hers. Thumbs pressing against her jaw, his tongue swept inside her mouth, aggressive and everything she remembered. Digging her nails into his neck, she kissed him back just as fiercely.

Caroline curled her arms around his neck, and she jumped to wrap her legs around his waist. Curled as tightly as she could against his body, desperate for assurance that this was real. They exchanged frantic, needy kisses before he pulled his mouth away to hitch her higher against him.

"I'm not done with you," Caroline warned, kissing along his jaw as he started to walk.

"I've had you only in my dreams for decades, Caroline." Klaus said roughly as he flashed up the stairs. "The things I've in mind, love, will be far more comfortable on my bed."

She stroked his face, stared at the rawness behind his eyes and blinked wet lashes. Tried to find some levity. "We never broke in this particular bed."

"That," Klaus said as he tumbled them onto his mattress. "Was your fault."

Her eyes narrowed as she was pinned beneath him. Caroline curled her legs around his waist, hitched as close to his body as she could while they both wore clothes. She reached up, and raked her fingers through his hair, just to watch his eyes close.

"Hardly my fault," Caroline informed him as she dragged her nails down the nape of his neck. "You're never as charming as you think you are."

He bit her, fangs digging deep as he insinuated his hand down her skirt, rubbing her firmly through her cotton underwear. She arched, body a tightly strung bow as her senses reeled; his free wrist pressed against her lips and she dug her fangs into his skin, her orgasm hitting hard as his blood touched her tongue.

Klaus lifted his head, lips and chin stained with her blood as he ripped her top and bra away from her body, leaving her skin bare to his lingering fingertips. "Now, Caroline, I'm always charming."

"You're lucky I think you're pretty," Caroline replied, but there was no bite to her voice as she stripped him of his top, running greedy palms over his chest and abs.

"Luck has nothing up do with it," Klaus said firmly before scattering kisses across the curves of her breasts. "Let me remind you."

Later, after they'd ruined the sheets, Caroline pressed her face against his shoulder. She trembled against him, as he cradled her close. "I watched you disappear."

Lips in her hair. "I know. "

She breathed against his skin, refusing to move. Here. He was here. Klaus. This was her Klaus. Holding her close, who'd just spent the last hour assuaging both of their touch hunger.

"Sweetheart… why are you here?" His hand stroked down her spine. "I'm not complaining, but you shouldn't be."

Reluctantly, she lifted her head, "Bonnie."

He made a noise in his chest and her nipples tightened. Ignoring it for the moment, she pressed her fingers into his skin.

"She was… broken." Caroline said quietly. "Bonnie. Once you were gone, they had no more use for us outside of torture. "

Klaus' jaw jumped. Caroline shook her head. "I'm better. Eventually, I'll be alright. Bonnie found magic, from somewhere. I don't know where, but she… she claimed whatever they had done - the witches and travelers - it'd been done wrong. She wanted me to come back and fix it."

He closed his eyes, expression pained. She swallowed and confessed in a small voice.

"I didn't want too."

Her back hit the mattress, the warmth of him a hard line down her front. "Never feel guilty for that."

She shook her head. Eyes tightly shut. "But you're here! I would have let my selfishness destroy any chance we had, again, and…"

Klaus' lips were warm, persuasive. Sliding across hers softly, they exchange lazy kisses. He kissed her until she softened beneath him, until she moaned.

He pulled back and shook his head. "No. No what-ifs. You're here. I've had plenty of time to go over everything repeatedly. While it does offer a certain perspective, it's not worth it now."

She scowled at him. "We both know that my brain doesn't work like that."

"It was worth a try."

Caroline just stared at him for a long moment, before she whispered her next words. "I've missed you."

Klaus traced her cheek. "And I you. Nightmares?"

"If I sleep." Caroline admitted. "Watching you disappear, knowing that Bonnie sacrificed herself, you so close, but not you…"

"Yes," His eyes were dark. "How long have you been here?"

"Not long. I… Senior Prank Night was my first test. I failed."

"That explains your sudden change in behavior. Your cover with the torture was reasonable enough that I didn't blink. But the way you looked at me…"

"Were you there?" Her brows bunched. "What on earth did you do with Tyler?"

"No. I was tying up loose ends. I've never intended to change Tyler, in this timeline. That's never gotten me anything but misery." Klaus shrugged. "He's lucky he's breathing."

"Where is he?"

"Hunting," His smile turned feral.

"Hayley?"

"Yes." Klaus caught her gaze, held it. "I've had decades to plan. Her, I will never kill; what waits for Hayley is an eternity of torture. What I did to Katerina will seem merciful."

Caroline cupped his face. "Are you sure?"

"No speeches? No arguments on how this isn't the same Hayley? She hasn't made those decisions?"

"I saw her face when they banished you." She threw her leg over his waist, part to feel him, part to be close. "I spent three days in that dungeon, watching Bonnie break. I broke. So no."

He'd went motionless. "I will wipe all of them from existence. When I'm finished, their bloodline will be eradicated and their cult wiped from human memory."

"Good. I'll help."

His face softened. "When I woke in Chicago, Rebekah was screaming at me. We were running from Mikael, Stefan was gone and all I could do was grab her. After years of hunting, there she was."

Caroline thought that she was the only person who knew how Rebekah's disappearance had gutted him. That someone had taken her from him, that she was lost and no one - not even Bonnie - could find her, it had enraged him.

"I told her everything."

Caroline blinked in surprise.

"Everything?"

"Even I can be taught." Klaus chided, expression suddenly tired. "I was trapped in a timeline where you hadn't even been born yet. Kol was in a box, Elijah gone. My enemies were hidden, scattered to the winds."

"She believed you?"

"Apparently my hug was enough of a shock that she listened. Belief was a decade or so after that."

Caroline's smile wobbled. "Was that why you tried to be charming these last few days?"

"There was no trying," Klaus said in amusement. "I've had years to learn how you think."

"You weren't charming," she said with an eye roll. "You were confusing. Nothing you said or did matched my memory, and you were making eyes at me anyway."

Klaus snorted, but his touch was gentle as he smoothed her hair. "If I had known it was you, I'd have stolen you that first night."

"I would have thrown myself at you," Caroline said honestly. "I've been miserable and you've been here this whole time."

"Whatever quirk of fate brought you back to me, I've no intention of wasting it," Klaus said roughly, kissing slowly down her neck. "I've had decades to plan."

Her spine arched as he kissed across the curves of her breasts. "I want in."

"I'd be disappointed otherwise," Klaus murmured before he licked across one nipple. "Later, we'll discuss whatever you want, love. But first, I've a few other needs to sate."

"Then it's my turn," Caroline warned as he moved slowly down her abdomen. Eyes hot with desire glittered at her.

"If you're still conscious, you may do whatever you like," Klaus said blithely.

"Promises," she retorted, just to see the devilment in his eyes, the curl of his mouth.

"Here I'd thought Paris would have taught you not to make that particular challenge, sweetheart."

Caroline shrugged, watched him from beneath her lashes. "The other timeline might have given you better stamina."

An arched brow, and Klaus laughed softly. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

He did warn her.

And later, body heavy and pleasurably exhausted, she sank into her first real sleep since she'd woken in her past; with hot kisses against her shoulder and practiced fingers smoothing through her hair.

* * *

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